EUPHORBIA GE^. ' 279 



about lOjOOO gallons are annually produced. It has been 

 imported into Europe for soap-makings but not to any- 

 con sidcrable extent, [and fctclies about £20 per imperial 

 ton. The oil is stated to possess powerful desiccativc j^roporties. 

 The cake, after the oil has been expressed, is esteemed 

 as a manure. The root of the tree affords a brown dye, 

 which is used by the Sandwich Islanders for their native 

 cloths. In India the oil is used as a dressing for idcers ; its 

 medicinal properties were examined bj Dr. O. Rorke {Ann. de 

 Thcrap,, 1859, p. 117), who found that in doses varying from 

 1 to 2 ounces it acted as a mild and sure purgative, producing in 

 from three to six hours, after ingestion, free bilious evacuations, 

 its operation being unattended either by nausea, colic or other 

 ill-effects. {Phar, of Indicia p. 203.) From more recent experi- 

 ments it appears that half an ounce of the oil is a sufficient 

 aperient. MM. Corre and Lcjanne {Resume de le Mat. Med. et 

 Tox. CoJoniale) remark : — " There is no doubt that the properties 

 of this oil differ when the oil is prepared in different ways." 

 "When cold drawn from the fresh nuts, Heckel,, who used it at 

 the Military Hospital at Noumea, found that it was only 

 purgative in 80 gram doses, that is to say, it simply acted as a 

 fatty oil ; he found that the drastic resinous constituents remained 

 in the oil-cake. 31. Jugant, at Nosi-Be, found that the oil 

 extracted by the hot process acted freely as a purgative in 40 

 gram doses. Many observations were made in the Military 

 Hospital with the result that the oil was found to operate in 

 from 1 to 3 1 hours. Dr. Grasourdy considers the oil to equal 

 castor oil in purgative properties. The oil, if intended to be 



used as a purgative, should be extracted by pressure between 

 hot plates. 



Description. — A tree of considerable magnitude, attain- 

 ing the height of 30 to 40 feet. The leaves are alternate, 

 four to eight inches long, stalked and without stipules, either 

 oval-acute and entire, or from three to fivc-lobed, and like all 

 the young parts covered with a w^hitish starry pubescence. 

 The flowers are small and white, growing in clusters at the 

 apex of the branches, the males and females together in the 



